This week I'm embarking on yet another Spring Break College Tour, this time with my younger daughter Ify. As you may recall, the last couple of times I did this with my other daughter Aku we were able to pick up some nifty Senegalese sounds from a somewhat disreputable storefront on 116th St. in New York City.
Unfortunately we won't be making it out East this time around (maybe next year), but I did want to pass on something I picked up on one of those earlier trips. Best of Thione Seck is not an "official" pressing, but it should be, gathering as it does some of the best tunes from Seck's cassette releases.
Thione Seck himself is rather well-known to African music aficionados thanks to the release in 2005 of his album Orientation (Sterns STCD 1100). He came to notice in Senegal in the late '70s as a vocalist for the legendary Orchestre Baobab, but soon left to form his own roots-orienteed ensemble Le Raam Daan ("Going Slowly Toward Your Goal"). Today he is considered one of the greatest Senegalese vocalists of all time. I featured a few tracks from Best of Thione Seck in an earlier post, but I'm sure you'll appreciate it in its entirety.
Thione Seck & le Raam Daan - Dieuleul
Thione Seck & le Raam Daan - Mane Mi Gnoul
Thione Seck & le Raam Daan - Mass Ndiaye
Thione Seck & le Raam Daan - Domou Baye
Thione Seck & le Raam Daan - Khare Bi
Thione Seck & le Raam Daan - Diongoma
Thione Seck & le Raam Daan - Yaye Boy
Thione Seck & le Raam Daan - Sakh Yi
Thione Seck & le Raam Daan - Yeen
Thione Seck & le Raam Daan - Yenn Bi (Mame)
Thione Seck & le Raam Daan - Khalel
Thione Seck & le Raam Daan - Bamba
Thione Seck & le Raam Daan - Rara
Download Best of Thione Seck as a zipped file here. The picture at the top of this post is by Tom Verhees. It is taken from the LP Le Pouvoir d'un Coeur Pur (Sterns STCD 1023, 1988).
